The New Bella Swan
by Sunflowers20
Summary: After the Cullens leave, Bella doesn't fall apart but realizes that her relationship with Edward was all wrong. She makes major changes and becomes strong and confident. She reconnects with her friends and bonds with her dad. The Cullens will have to work their ass off if they want her back because this new Bella isn't a fan of them(BXE endgame).
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi guys, this is my first twilight fanfic. I have always hated the fact that in New Moon, Bella takes Edward back so easily and also that after he leaves, she falls apart and neglects everyone else. I hate her character so much in New Moon. Also, the other New Moon AUs I have come across have never been satisfactory so I thought why not write my own. In my fic, Bella will make all of the Cullens (except for Rose and Jasper) work for it and will give them a very very hard time. Did I mention that I really hated all of the Cullens except Rose and Jasper for abandoning her like that? Well, I do. And trust me, people, they won't know what's hit them when they meet my strong and bold and confident Bella who wants nothing to do with them. Please give it a chance.**

 **I don't own Twilight series.**

 **Chapter 1**

"Bye guys, see ya tomorrow!" Bella Swan waved cheerily at her friends as she got inside her trusty old pickup truck to head home after a long but productive day of school. Her friends- Jessica, Angela, Mike, Eric, and Ben- waved back at her and smiled while Lauren reminded her that she was coming over to her house that evening so they could study together for their upcoming Biology test. As surprising as that sounds, Lauren and Bella had become very good friends. Lauren was Bella's new Biology partner and once she got to know her, Bella found out that Lauren wasn't so bad and was actually fun to be around. They had talked and set their differences aside and a friendship had bloomed.

Bella assured her that she did remember and told her she would see her that evening before driving off to her house. As she drove, she let her mind recall the past few months. It had been about five months since Edward had left and she hadn't fallen apart like she always thought she would in case he ever left her.

 **Flashback**

After he callously broke her heart with his vicious words and cold, indifferent attitude, he ran off like the cowardly jerk he was. She took deep calming breaths as she walked back home in a daze, still not being able to come to terms with what had just happened. When she reached her house, she noticed the note Edward had written for her dad in, she had to admit, a good imitation of her handwriting. Hot white fury coursed through her veins as she read the note.

 _Why the hell did he feel the need to do that? Did he honestly think that she would get lost on her way home which she could still see from where they were in the woods or that she would foolishly venture deeper into the woods in order to find him so that Charlie would have to come looking for her?_

She may have been lovesick, and she grimaced as she finally admitted to herself, clingy and pathetic but she was in no way crazy. She ripped the note to pieces and forcefully tossed it into the bin. " _Asshole"_ , she muttered as she made her way up the stairs to her room, flung herself onto her bed and gazed at the ceiling. As she thought back on her relationship with the stupid, sparkly vampire, she realized what exactly he thought of her. Weak, fragile, clumsy, foolishly lovesick, clingy, pathetic, crazy, someone who couldn't take care of herself or make her own decisions, someone he constantly had to protect, oh she could go on and on. Did he not know that before Phil came along she was the one who took care of her mother when it should have been the other way around and shouldered every household responsibility like cooking, paying the bills, cleaning, and everything else? She always considered herself to be strong and independent, someone who doesn't let people walk all over her.

As she thought, she realized how unhealthy their relationship was, how he always thought himself to be superior to her, how little self-worth she had. She hated that she had zero self-esteem. She cringed as she thought back to how just a few days ago, she couldn't even look at that picture of herself and Edward taken on her birthday because she thought she looked too plain while he looked like a Greek god. _What was wrong with her?_ How had she even allowed herself to think like that? She may not be a supermodel but she _wasn't nothing_ compared to him. Before her big move to Forks, she had never considered herself to be exceptionally beautiful but even then, she had never thought that she was too plain or ugly like she felt around him.

She stood up in front of the dressing table and looked at herself in the long mirror. She had healthy and shiny mahogany hair that reached to the middle of her back and curled at the ends. She had deep brown eyes which her mother always told her were her best feature as she felt that they expressed whatever she was feeling without her having to say it. They were framed by thick, long lashes. Her face was free of blemishes, completely flawless and she had pink plump lips. She had a slender figure and she often got complimented on her height which she inherited from her father. She was 5 feet and 9 inches tall and that was her one feature she had always been proud of. ( **A/N- I know Bella is only supposed to be 5''4 but for the purpose of this story, let's pretend she is 5 inches taller, okay?)** A small grin broke out across her face as she finally admitted to herself that while she was no Rosalie Hale, she wasn't plain or ugly either but rather decent looking. _Hmm, not bad Bella, not bad at all,_ she mused as she appraised herself.

She had horrible fashion sense, though. She was going to gain confidence and nothing would stop her. With a determined nod to herself, she opened up her closet and decided to get rid of all her unflattering, shapeless clothes. She would take Jessica up on her offer of going shopping together and buy herself some pretty and flattering clothes that would accentuate her figure and show of her womanly curves. It would go a long way in boosting up her confidence. She would start going to the local gym with her Dad to gain balance and better coordination. Her dad, being the chief of police, worked out regularly to keep himself fit. She hated being clumsy and was determined to change that. She also figured that working out regularly would ensure that she kept her figure and would enable her to occasionally stuff herself with her favorite foods without worrying. She smiled as she thought that it would also help her bond with her Dad and get closer to him.

She loathed herself for not spending any time with her amazing father and instead only focusing on that no good bastard, Edward. Sure he had saved her life more times than she could count and she was immensely grateful for that but he just wasn't good for her like she wasn't good for him. He had never treated her as his equal but like an errant child whose responsibility rested on his shoulders. Hell, he didn't even kiss her properly, always just barely brushing his lips against hers and always leaving her wanting for more. He was too careful and while she knew that was important because he could easily break her bones if he wasn't careful enough but he was just too much which frustrated her to no end. _She had needs, damn it!_ _Why did she stick with him for so long, again? Oh right, because she was too much in love to look past all his flaws._ That's right, Edward fucking Cullen wasn't perfect by any means and she just wished she had realized that sooner.

She never felt beautiful or confident around him or his family and while he wasn't to blame for the fact that vampirism had given him unnaturally good looks, it just wasn't right. A relationship is supposed to uplift you and not shred you off every sense of self-worth and self-respect. It shouldn't make you unsure of or constantly second guess yourself. While it is true that you need to work in a relationship, one with Edward required a whole lot of hard work and drained all her energy. It demanded a hell of a lot of patience from her side. Relationships aren't supposed to be like that, are they? You shouldn't feel as if your boyfriend is too good for you or that he is too perfect and that you are nothing compared to him. Her relationship with Edward was all wrong. Suddenly, she was glad that he had ended their relationship and left. It had put a lot of things into perspective. Sure she missed him and Alice and everyone else, she hated to admit it to herself.

She even missed Rosalie, which was surprising, to say the least. Even though she didn't like her behavior and attitude towards her and humans in general, she admired the blonde a lot. She had always been upfront about her feelings towards her family's involvement with Bella. She had come to accept long ago that not everyone she meets was going to take a liking to her and that never bothered her, for Bella was a smart and mature girl. One thing Bella liked the most about the gorgeous but bitchy woman was that she always knew where she stood with her. She had never once referred to Bella as her mate or her best friend or her little sister or her daughter and that's why Bella didn't feel an ounce of hatred for her at all for the abandonment.

Neither did she blame Jasper. Not for leaving and nor for what happened. She knew it wasn't his fault because come on, he was an empath. He must have had to deal with his own bloodlust as well as that of six other vampires, one of whose blood singer was Bella. Of course, he had crumbled under the strain, she would have done the same. She recalled the one time at the Cullen house when everyone else was out hunting and she and Jasper were watching a historical documentary together. She had accidentally scraped her knee and she remembered being terrified for a moment but then relaxed when she saw Jasper looking over at her in concern and not in a hungry way. It was him who had patiently bandaged up her knee and then shyly told her to be careful the next time. Since then, they had become closer. But despite it all, she didn't blame him for leaving. Poor guy was probably blaming and punishing himself. She just wished she could somehow convey to him that she did not blame him at all and he shouldn't either.

Jasper and Rosalie were the only two members of the Cullen family that she liked at the moment. But the rest of them weren't worth her time at all and she would get over them soon. You would think that after spending so much time together with her, always telling her she was part of the family, they would at least have the decency to say goodbye and give her best wishes or maybe call or text or even email. But they hadn't bothered.

"They are probably happy to finally be rid of the human", she thought to herself bitterly, rolling her eyes as she did so.

But you know what, it was perfectly alright. They weren't really her family and didn't owe her a thing. She had two amazing parents who loved her more than anything and were always there for her, yes even her mother. She may have been childish and a bit (okay, a lot) eccentric, Bella knew without a doubt that she adored her. And so did her father. And from that moment onwards she was going to show him just how much she loved and appreciated him.

 **End of flashback**

That evening when she had told her father of her plans to go to the gym with him, he had been absolutely thrilled and she had felt guilty for not spending time with him sooner. And then when she had asked for money because she wanted to go shopping, he had happily handed over his card to her. She didn't really need it as she had a lot of it saved up already as she barely spent it on anything, she only asked him because she knew it would make him happy to be able to do something for her and to see her acting her own age.

From that day, she and her Dad had become very close once again just like they used to be when she was younger and she had once again become a Daddy's girl. She had also reconnected with all of her friends and made several new ones. Everyone had started liking her when she let them in. They loved her amazing personality as well as her kind and generous nature. She had also become confident about herself. Once she had started working out, she lost her clumsiness and gained curves in all the right places. She had started wearing clothes that accentuated them and looked good on her instead of her old shapeless ones. Jessica had also taught her all about makeup and Bella found that she loved it. She knew she didn't need it but only wore because it made her feel good. She had also lost the inhibition she had about wearing heels and because she wasn't clumsy anymore, they never made her feel uncomfortable. She owned several pairs now.

That night after Lauren left after their fun but productive study session, she spent some quality time with her dad watching TV and discussing each other's day, just like every evening. She had started to notice a light in his eyes once she had started bonding and opening up to him. She remembered the look of shock that had crossed his face when he saw that she wasn't affected by Edward's leaving and then a moment later, it had been replaced by a relieved smile. One thing she was sure of, Edward's leaving had done a whole lot of good to her life. But that didn't mean she would ever forgive him if he ever changed his mind about her. Neither would she forgive the Cullens, all except Jasper and Rose of course, not that they had anything to apologize for. But Esme, Carlisle and their precious children Edward, Emmett, and Alice better stay away from her at all cost. She knew their leaving was for the best but that didn't mean that she didn't despise them. If they ever came near her, they would regret it.

One of her best friends, as well as some of her other friends, were werewolves after all.

And she wasn't above taking advantage of that.

 **A/N Well, I really really hope you liked it. And please please please leave me reviews and let me know what you thought. I promise I will respond to each one. And if you liked it then please show me some love by following and adding it as your favorite.**

 **I apologize for the lack of interaction in this chapter but I basically wanted you to know what our heroine has been up to the past months. From the next chapter onwards, there will be dialogues and interaction. This chapter was just meant to be a sort of prologue.**

 **And those of you who have read my Hunger Games fanfic and are waiting for me to update it, don't worry, I'm very slowly working on it as well. I promise I haven't abandoned it. It's my last year in high school and I'm so busy these days, I haven't had a chance to write in such a long time. I will finish both the stories, I promise.**

 **Once again, please review and let me know what you think. Feel free to PM me as well, I will respond as soon as possible :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Cullens Are Back**

Hi everyone, I'm so so sorry for taking such a long time to get this one out. My personal life got in the way and I was going through a lot and just had a lot on my plate to focus on writing, nevertheless I'm extremely sorry for being so late and I want to assure all my readers that I'm not going to abandon this story and will finish it no matter how long it takes and I will try my best to not make you wait long between chapters.

So let's get on with the story and I want to mention beforehand that unlike the previous one, this chapter is in first person pov (Bella's). Enjoy

 **Disclaimer- I don't own the Twilight series.**

The sound of the raindrops splattering against the windows woke me up. Groggily, I checked the time. Gosh, it was only 6 am. I could sleep for another hour or so if I wanted to but I didn't feel like it anymore so I just sat up on the bed, leaning back against the headrest and continued to watch the rain. Of course, living in Forks, this wasn't anything new but that didn't mean I had grown to like it. I missed the warmth and the sunshine, and the rain always made me feel a little gloomy.

Another Monday, I always hated them. _Because come on, who doesn't?_ The start to another exhausting week. Five more days before I could have some peace. _Was it just me or did everybody count down the days to Friday starting from Monday every week?_ I just knew that today wasn't going to be my day. I could feel it in my gut that something or the other was going to go wrong. Maybe I could stay home just once? I had taken AP classes back in Phoenix so there wasn't really much that the teachers were going to teach me that I hadn't already studied. Dad would never let me skip school without a valid reason though. I could have faked a headache or said that I was having female problems, he wouldn't refuse then but I didn't want to put up with my friends' constant nagging as to why I didn't go so I dropped the idea.

With a huff, I dragged myself out of my bed and to the bathroom where I leisurely brushed my teeth and took a longer bath than usual as I had a lot of time. I blow dried my dripping hair and brushed them nicely once they were dry so they were sleek and shiny as they framed my face. I had recently got them cut in long layers and gotten some highlights. They were still long but looked much nicer and I loved my new look! It was very different from what I was used to and sexier if I did say so myself. It's amazing how a haircut can make you feel so much better about yourself.

I decided to wear my favorite pair of blue jeans along with a tank top and a black cold shoulder sweater. I did my makeup, put on my black heeled boots, grabbed my bag and coat, and headed downstairs. There was a note from my dad saying he had to leave early as something had come up but he had made me some toast. _Nice!_

I left for school after a good, unhurried breakfast while watching TV. The gut feeling still hadn't left but there wasn't much I could do about it so I tried not to dwell on it. I wished I could talk to someone about it but my dad had already left for work and I didn't feel like discussing it with my friends so I just distracted myself by listening to some music. It was a short drive from home to school and as soon as I pulled into the parking lot and got out of my truck I was greeted by the sight of most of the students staring at me and murmuring to each other. _That's weird, what happened now? Am I expelled? Fuck no, I'm a good student, very well behaved too._

"Morning Bella", Jessica walked over to me followed by my other friends and gave me a side hug. All of them smiled at me like usual but I could sense something was off. "Hey you all, what's up? Why is everyone staring?" I asked hoping they would have some clue as to what was going on.

They all looked at each other and after a brief pause Lauren answered, "Yeah about that, promise you won't freak out please. It's alright." "Okay but what's going on?" I implored looking at her hesitant and worried expression. She softly grabbed my arm and turned me to look across from where we were standing and I knew my gut feeling was right and I wished I had just stayed home and slept in. There, leaning against the very familiar shiny Volvo was none other than Edward fucking Cullen. And he was looking straight at me longingly ( _what?_ ) and his eyes were pleading, no begging to be understood. He looked very different from the day he left in terms of his facial expression. That day it was cold and detached but otherwise he looked the same which didn't really surprise me since his kind never change. What did surprise me was his presence, he had promised he would never come back and yet there he was. Anyway he had ceased to matter to me a long time ago and I didn't give a damn about why he returned. As long as he stayed out of my way and left me alone, we wouldn't have any problems. Oh and standing next to him was his annoying psychic of a sister, bouncing excitedly on her feet like a fucking three year old. I had always found that habit of hers extremely irritating but I had never voiced my opinion. Well great, my day and possibly the remaining semester were ruined already and I had just arrived! _Noo there's no way I would let them do that! They didn't mean a thing to me so why should I let them affect my life?_

Rolling my eyes, I removed my gaze from them and turned to my friends. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Alice stop her bouncing and look confused while Edward just stared down guiltily. Did she expect me to be happy upon seeing them and run to her? I scowled as I realized that's exactly what the old Bella whom they were familiar with would have done. She would have run into Alice's arms and cried her heart out and begged not to be left again. _Dumb weak bitch._

"You okay, Bell?" Angela asked me sweetly gently touching my arm. I smiled at her reassuringly and told her I'm good and that we should get to class. All of them seemed relieved, I guessed they were expecting me to be angry which I was to some extent but they had ceased to matter to me a long time ago so I would simply just ignore them. I was, however, curious as to why they were back. Did it mean that the rest of the Cullens were back too?

"Bella!" I heard someone call my name from behind. It was Alice rushing towards me excitedly followed by her brother. _Noo please no, it's too early in the morning, I don't want to deal with this._ Sighing I decided to be calm instead of lashing out, and just kill them with kindness. "Yes Alice, what do you need?" I asked in a clipped but polite way, folding my arms across my chest. She looked a bit hurt but covered it up quickly with a smile and reached out to hug me but I took a step back, shaking my head, letting her know it wasn't okay. Jessica, Lauren and Mike smirked at that making me smile which I quickly hid. Alice looked shocked, hurt and confusion pooled in her bright golden eyes but I paid no mind to it. "I would appreciate it if you didn't touch me, Alice. Now, it's getting late and class is about to start. If you have nothing to say then we are leaving. Have a good day." With that I turned around gracefully and was about to leave when Edward spoke up. "Bella? Can we please talk alone?" he asked softly, his voice gentle and imploring but not forceful. I sighed, "There's nothing for us to talk about, Edward. I think everything that needed to be said was said long ago and I'm seriously not in the mood to exchange pleasantries or play catch up with you people so please leave me alone, I have a class to get to." "Please Bella, just for a few minutes?" "She said no, Cullen. Respect her wishes, man, you have already done enough" Mike came to my defense and told Edward firmly but not unkindly.

Mike had changed a lot as a person, while earlier he used to hit on me and flirt a lot, he had changed his ways and matured, he had become one of my closest friends. I guess you could say he had grown up, something the Cullens were incapable of doing. Edward's eyes grew wide, he must have been surprised at how mature he sounded. I was proud of Mike. Nevertheless he responded back "This has got nothing to do with you, Newton. I really need to talk to Bella, it's important that she hears me out." "Bella and I are best friends so of course it has got a lot to do with me. Me, Jessica, Lauren, Angela, and Ben have been there for her way longer than you have so don't go around telling me it has got nothing to do with me", he fired back at him. Anger crossed Edward's face and as he was getting ready to respond, I cut him off as I wanted to avoid all the drama and I was a little curious, I must admit so I let it get the better of me and said, "He is right, Edward. However I will agree to a talk, but like you said, just for a few minutes, after that I will go my way and you go yours. But after school as it's late now and there will be a lot of prying eyes during lunch." He still looked upset but relieved too and nodded at me, smiling gently, the way he used to when we were together and it almost melted my heart. Almost.

"It's good to see you, Bella. I can't tell you how happy we all are to be back, even though I can see that you're not. You look gorgeous, by the way, like always. But there's something different about you now, and I mean it in a good way. I'm glad to see that" Alice told me with a smile, before walking towards her class, taking Edward along. I couldn't help but smile at her words. She was right, everything was different about me now. I had fallen in love with myself and was fully confident about myself which were the main changes in me. That's why looking at her and Edward, I hadn't felt even an ounce of envy at their obvious supernatural beauty and didn't feel intimidated at all. I could walk into a room full of beautiful people like the Cullens and still keep my head high and chin up and feel totally confident. I had also realized that I didn't need Edward or any other guy to feel complete or happy. It would be nice to have a boyfriend but I was the one who completed myself and made myself happy. I wasn't broken anymore, I never was even though I might have felt like that at times. I was whole and full of love in my heart, for myself and for everyone else who mattered to me.

 **Author's note:** So that's it for this chapter and I'm really sorry I really wanted to give you guys an extra long chapter to make up for making you wait for almost a year and a half but I didn't want to half ass it, I want to give you quality content which I'm fully satisfied with and let me assure you, next chapter will be up soon. I'm working on it and this time I'm not going to make you all wait very long for chapters because I know how frustrating it is when an author leaves the story hanging. Thank you for sticking with me. And please leave reviews telling me how you liked it, what you didn't like and what you would like to see happen in the story or just your opinion on something. I love reading reviews and reply to all of them, they motivate me to work harder. And yes I know that line " I complete myself" and stuff is from the movie 'Isn't it romantic', it's not exactly same as the one in the story but still, that's where I got the idea and I'm borrowing it because it seems very fitting for Bella :) Also I would like to clarify that since Bella didn't go into depression, she never went looking for the meadow and so never encountered Lauren. Also Jacob is like a little brother to her, not a romantic interest. Sorry for the long ass author's note, just wanted to make some things clear. Thank you so much for reading!


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